Hi I am new here and I was wondering what type of goldfish this is. I have had him for about 11 months and I was told he is an Oranda. He hasn't yet grown a headgrowth at all, so I was wondering whether he is something else like a fantail? Can anybody help? I had kept him in unsuitable overcrowded conditions up until now, and then I realised that I was doing everything wrong. He is now in a 30 Gallon tank with 2 other fancy goldfish. The other fish in the picture is a little Pearlscale that had also not been kept very well when I first bough it. It has hardly grown since I bought it 10 months ago, so I believe it is probably stunted Has anyone got any tips on what to do, other than just do regular water changes and feed a varied diet? I hope it begins to grow now and that the stunting can be reversed. Thanks.

That's a great looking aquarium. As far as your question about your oranda , it could take up to two years for the wen to start growing. Normally , you can't tell the difference between a fantail or an oranda when it's still young.

It's a completely normal fantail. If you look at the body type and the shape of the head, it's not even close to an oranda since they have much rounder body, and arched back. Their nose is also less pointy Orandas tend to have pretty wide heads so that there's place for headgrowth

By the way, I have two Orandas that are surely younger than a year, and both of these have quite wonderful headgrowth ;> I've also seen a small red cap that's like 1 inch long and it already has a well visible wen developing, so... It can be much quicker than 2 years.

There have been many cases on this forum where people have bought fantails that were marked in the shop as Orandas d: So you can't always trust the labels

I've got three fantails, just fantails, and they're absolutely beautiful, so it doesn't matter if the fish isn't a very fancy kind

Hah, it sounded a bit brutal when you said that you won't trust the labels anymore xD But it would be good if you'd simply try and recognize the fish for what they are without reading on labels It goes rather fast and easy once you get used to the varieties

Some Orandas never develope much af a wen. Your guy may never develope a wen. Higher protein diets help the wen to develope. I can see that your orange colored fish is a he from the pictures tho! Look closely and you can see his breeding tubercles on his gills.

I've got three fantails, just fantails, and they're absolutely beautiful, so it doesn't matter if the fish isn't a very fancy kind

Hah, it sounded a bit brutal when you said that you won't trust the labels anymore xD But it would be good if you'd simply try and recognize the fish for what they are without reading on labels It goes rather fast and easy once you get used to the varieties

Well I think I can recognise most of the different kinds of goldfish now When I bought the fish I thought it didn't really look like an Oranda, but the label said it was so I just assumed that I must be wrong . Turns out I was right though

Yep I noticed his breeding Tubercules so I always thought he was a male

Hanna: A butterfly tail is even less forked And the lobes are a little bit pointy, just like on a butterfly Most butterflies have telescope eyes too! Here are a few examples:[image] [image] [image] (Last one has a little bend on the lower lobe, but nevermind that! )